Chapter 5 - Olympian Magic and The Shadow Serpent

A few months had passed since Ben and Gwen met each other and made a party together. They were both now Rank D rank which was quite fast as it usually took far longer due to the quest restriction of needing one hundred higher quests completed before a rank up. This normal route was of course thrown away by Ben as he found it too slow. The test had been simple, defeat a rank D adventurer during the exam and the person who did so would become a rank D adventurer.

Ben didn't need even five seconds to win the match but due to wanting to keep a low profile, he held back tremendously and won after a few minutes. As for how Gwen passed, it was all thanks to the Olympian magic that Ben had taught her. She was a quick learner and studied the story's and mythologies of the gods and mastered the chants. Not only was the magical power greater but the wasted mana was less than ten percent compared to the twenty to thirty normal mages suffer from thanks to the backstory and Gwen's understanding of the Gods domain better.

Currently the two of them were in the Eastern Woods like usual, only Ben was sitting on a large rock and Gwen was standing in a cleared area over one hundred feet. This was all unnatural and made from the spells Gwen would constantly cast. She had grown a little and wasn't like a stick anymore, but the most change was to her mana reserves as they were about twenty times larger than Ben's mother's.

"What is the domain of Zeus?" Ben asked Gwen.

"Lightning, thunder, and skies." Gwen answered instantly.

"Alright, cast lightning bolt." Ben said.

Gwen's mana stabilization initiated before she even began chanting as she said. "By the blessing of Zeus! Lightning Bolt!"

Holding her hand out in above her, a lightning bolt the size of a javelin formed and she threw it towards a tree. The speed was incredible and splintered the tree while making a deep crater where the lightning bolt landed.

Ben felt happy with this progress and then asked. "What is the domain of Hades?"

"Hellfire, darkness, and the underworld." Gwen said.

"Cast dark mist." Ben said.

"By the blessing of Hades! Dark Mist!" Gwen said with darkness coming out from her as the origin.

"Nice." Ben said as he waved his hands, causing a strong gust of wind to appear, blowing the mist away.

"Now what are the domains of Poseidon?" Ben said.

"The storms, the oceans, and the quakes upon the world." Gwen said.

"Cast earthquake!" Ben said.

"By the blessing of Poseidon! Earthquake!" Gwen said as she lifted her right foot and stomped hard, creating a web of cracks as the ground began to rumble.

"Well. Should be good enough I suppose." Ben said with Gwen pouting.

"Aren't I almost as good as you are at magic now?" Gwen asked.

Ben hummed to himself and and felt like showing off as he hadn't ever shown her a fraction of his power. So after sensing that there was no one around, Ben raised his hands towards the sky. Dark clouds began to form as thunder and lightning crackles high above the sky. Ben smiled at Gwen's shocked expression before he began an unneeded incantation. He did this only so that Gwen could imagine what the spell was capable of and utilize it herself when she becomes more used to magic.

"By the Blessing of Zeus and his eternal Brother Poseidon, their control over storms is mine to command! Storm Breaker!" Ben yelled and then clenched his fist.

The energy accumulating within the storm cloud began to release all at once in a rain of lightning upon the ground. The ground trembled as if it was going to shatter as it very well might have. The air burned with pure energy, and the forest began to burn. After ten seconds, Ben opened his hand and the lightning stopped, in its place was now heavy rainfall which quelled the fire.

Ben looked to Gwen who was on her knees in utter shock at what had just been done and smiled as he said. "When you are able to combine the domain between two gods and release their combined power like I did. That, is when you'll be truly near a fraction of my magic."

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Along the way back to the city, Gwen kept on asking if Ben was a god, to which he said he didn't know as he never met a god before. Though he supposed he was as close to being one compared to any human. His regeneration due to his magic was unimaginable, his mana reserves were nearly endless, and his magic spells were massive as he was curious as to what he was truly capable of.

Getting into the City, Ben noticed how everyone was acting hectic and some were even packing up their shops and getting ready to leave. Fear being the only similar expression on everyone's face.

Going to the blacksmith who Ben had become acquainted with, he asked him. "What's going on John?"

"Haven't you heard! A rank three monster was reported to have come into sight of the city walls!" John explained before he jumped into his wagon and left.

"Oh dear." Ben said as he finally understood the panic of the people.

Normally this wouldn't have been a problem as Capital City had two S rank adventurer living within the castle grounds, but the two were currently on separate quests in a different kingdom. As for how Ben knew of this, it was because he sensed them leaving the city a month ago. They also didn't disappoint as their mana felt large and powerful, not as great as Ben's but larger than anyone he had ever sensed.

Rank three monsters weren't like any other beast as they required at least two or more S rank adventurers to defeat. Rank two monsters needed at least a couple of rank A adventurers, and Rank one monsters needed a couple rank B adventurers. There was a Rank four monster but they were reserved only for the most powerful beings. One being the demon lord sealed by the hero even though he was a demon and not a monster, needing several S rank adventurers and even that might not be enough.

"Ben, what should we do?" Gwen asked, not in fear but because she knew that ben didn't like attracting a lot of attention.

"Well, let's go to the guild first and report the completion of the Red Bears." Ben said.

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Ben opened the doors to the guild and found it completely empty with the exception of the receptionist who seemed to still be packing up. The duo walked up to her and Ben leaned on the desk while Gwen leaned on Ben.

"So we completed the quest." Ben began but was stopped by the receptionist.

"Why are you still here!?" She yelled. "A rank three shadow serpent is coming here any minute now and you want your rewards!"

Ben blinked and then nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

The receptionist finally seemed to snap as her eye twitched and she yelled. "I knew you were crazy!"

Ben tried to clam her down and told her. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to the City."

"How do you know that!?" The Receptionist asked loudly with tears coming out of her eyes.

"Cause if it comes too close then I'll just wipe it out of existence." Ben said offhandedly.

"You're crazy." The receptionist said before she grabbed a chest and brought it to the her horse drawn wagon and left.

"Everyone is so scared." Gwen said.

Ben agreed as he stated. "I guess everyone whose actually strong is in the monster continent."

"So you're going to take care of the monster Ben?" Gwen asked.

"Yep. Might as well have a taste of what the monster continent has in store for me after I travel this continent for a while right?" Ben smiled at the thought of fighting against this so called rank three shadow serpent.

"Will you use Olympian magic?" Gwen asked, wanting to see more of her master's amazing power.

Sadly Ben just shook his head with a smile. "Nope! Just good old fashioned enhancement magic and blade aura, unless someone's about to die of course."

Gwen laughed at this and so did Ben as they left the guild, their next destination being the castle walls where the Shadow Serpent was said to be coming from.